


Missing Midnight

by FestiveFerret



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Happy Ending, M/M, Making Out, Missed Connections, New Year's Eve, Or Meet Sexy, Stranger - Freeform, meet cute, nye kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 03:19:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17236376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FestiveFerret/pseuds/FestiveFerret
Summary: Steve let the tide of the party shuffle him around the room, the thumping bass feeling like a second heartbeat in his chest. He was drunk enough that everything wasgreatbut not so drunk he couldn't keep his feet.





	Missing Midnight

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you have a happy New Year! <3
> 
> Thanks to my beta and light of my life, ashes0909. Here's to another year of us *clinks glasses*

Steve let the tide of the party shuffle him around the room, the thumping bass feeling like a second heartbeat in his chest. He was drunk enough that everything was  _ great  _ but not so drunk he couldn't keep his feet. 

He was drunk enough that he was still at this party instead of turning tail and fleeing to the safety of his own apartment once the beer pong started. But Bucky was having a good time, and Steve hadn't wanted to pay for an Uber by himself, so he'd knocked back a few red solo cups, and let himself sink into it.

The swanky apartment was full of far more people than the fire code could allow for, and all the rooms were loud and hot. Steve pushed through to the living room and plucked at his sweaty t-shirt.

There was a sort of tidal pull to the crowd, and a shift in the noise and Steve realized that the shouting celebrities on the TV were gearing up for the countdown. It was hard to believe another year had come and gone. Or was about to be gone, in thirteen seconds. 

It hadn't been a bad year, but it hadn't exactly been a good one, either. Steve was happy, but he was lonely too. 

"Ten!" the gang shouted, tension winding up.

Steve caught Bucky's eye from across the room and he raised his cup with a smile. Steve raised his back and gave him a nod. There was a beautiful redhead attached to Bucky's arm and he wondered if he'd be getting that uber home alone after all. 

"Nine!"

"Eight!"

The crowd started pairing off and Steve shifted, trying not to draw attention to his single status. He hadn't come to the party to hook up, but it didn't make it any less awkward being the only one without someone to kiss at midnight.

"Seven!"

Someone bumped into Steve's arm and he turned a bit, the press of people keeping him from being able to move away, and found his gaze locked with two bright, brown eyes. The owner of the eyes blinked at him then smiled, never breaking their impromptu staring contest. The guy was gorgeous and something about the way he was smirking made Steve want to ask him what was so funny. Then figure out how to be the one to make him laugh next time.

"Four!" 

Somehow, four seconds had disappeared in this guy's eyes.

"Three!"

Steve didn't know which one of them leaned in. Maybe both.

"Two!" But suddenly they were sharing air.

"One!"

Cheers broke out around them, but Steve barely noticed, his entire being occupied with the fact that Beautiful Eyes' lips were now pressed against his. Most New Year's kisses were quick and chaste, but the second their mouths met, everything else disappeared. The guy took two handfuls of Steve's shirt, over his hips and tugged him closer, gasping a little into the kiss then tilting his head to draw it deeper. His lips were warm and firm and sparks shot across Steve's skin.

The guy staggered backwards, pulling Steve with him and shoving irritated partygoers out of the way until they found an armchair in the corner next to a potted plant. They tumbled down as one, Steve ending up sprawled sideways on the seat with Beautiful Eyes half in his lap.

A hot tongue traced the seam of Steve's lips and he parted them to let it slide in. Steve couldn't keep his hands from wandering up the other man's back. He was aware, distantly, that he was making out with a perfect stranger, in public, at a party, but none of that mattered. Kissing this guy was like lego pieces snapping together. Stopping wasn't an option, not even long enough to get the guy's name, he just needed  _ more, more, more. _

The guy shifted around until he straddled Steve's lap, and Steve could immediately tell he wasn't the only one enjoying himself. The world felt soft and hazy and easy as they kissed without urgency, twining tighter and tighter together. The man's fingers furrowed through Steve's hair to cup the back of his head and it was all Steve could do not to purr.

He felt like he'd known this guy forever, or at least known his body. Time fuzzed, and Steve's boozy buzz deepened. Everything was just lips and tongues and clever, precise fingers.

"Tony. We have to go."

The man was cruelly ripped out of his arms, and Steve blinked back from outer space to find a disapproving looking guy standing over him with a handful of Tony's - because that seemed to be Beautiful Eyes' name - bicep.

Tony pouted. "Don't be a spoilsport, Rhodey. It was just getting interesting." He was slurring a bit but his eyes were still bright and clear. And beautiful. And fixed on Steve.

"I'll bet it was," Rhodey said with a smirk.

Tony's gaze never shifted from Steve's as he draped himself over his friend's (boyfriend's?) arm, letting Rhodey hold him up. He smiled, a soft, sweet smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes. "Thanks," he whispered to Steve, then he stumbled off with his friend, and he was gone.

Steve stared at the empty space Tony had occupied, still sprawled on the chair with his pants tented and his shirt rumpled. Had that really happened? Or had Tony been some vodka-and-cranberry induced hallucination? Steve's fingers ghosted over his lips, and he could still feel the echo of another's. 

"Steve?"

Steve startled up to see Bucky peering down at him. His mouth was cottony and the room spun a little, and he wondered if he'd fallen asleep. "Yuh?"

"Come on, I ordered an Uber."

"Okay." He tripped out of the apartment with Bucky and into an elevator. 

Somehow, Steve found himself in bed, stripped down to his boxers. He snuggled under the covers and traced the soft spots on his sides where Tony had gripped him. He didn't even know his last name.

**

The next six weeks went by as they always did, with the addition of a few New Year's resolutions Steve didn't manage to keep. He thought about Tony a lot, but after a few days of texting around and getting nothing, he'd given up on ever finding out who he was. No one seemed to know a Tony or a Rhodey, and most people had been too drunk to remember seeing Steve on the armchair. 

But Tony was hard to forget. 

When Steve squeezed his eyes shut in the shower and took himself in hand, he couldn't help but flash back to Tony's hot mouth on his, fingers curling under the hem of his t-shirt, and the solid weight of Tony in his lap. It didn't seem fair to have such a tantalizing taste of someone and then have them disappear out of his life forever, but it seemed destined to be the case.

He often wondered if it had been the alcohol that had made Tony seem like the best kiss of his life, but he remembered it clearly enough that it was hard to believe. He'd been drunk, but not blackout drunk. And there was just something about the way Tony had kissed him…

"Excuse me."

Steve startled out of a half-daydream, half-fantasy and pushed his grocery cart out of the way of the canned corn. "Sorry," he muttered. 

The woman who had spoken grabbed a few cans and trundled away past Steve, her baby blinking at him as they met eyes. Steve shook himself and went back to loading his cart half-heartedly with beans. 

"- well, I don't know -" came a voice from behind him, and Steve stilled. "It's like that  _ all  _ the time. I don't even -"

Steve spun on his heel and the speaker cut off immediately, his mouth frozen in an "o," his phone hanging from his hand near his ear.

"Tony?" Steve asked, heart pounding all of a sudden.

"Hot Party Makeout Guy?" Tony took a few steps closer. "I'll call you back." It took Steve a moment to realize Tony was speaking into the phone, but then he clicked it off and tucked it into his pocket. 

"It's Steve, actually," he said breathlessly.

"You're really him, though, right? The guy I locked lips with at the New Year's Eve party? Cause, I gotta say, if there are two of you in the city, I have some very unwholesome ideas we could do with your double."

Steve broke into a stunned smile, tossing the can he was holding into his cart without looking at it. "It is me. I - I've been looking for you."

Tony bloomed into a grin. "Really? Me too. But I'll be honest, neither Rhodey nor I could remember who we knew at that party, if anyone. We might have been crashing. Either way, no one seemed to know who 'Blue-Eyed Hottie in A Smedium Red Shirt' was."

"I was there with a friend. I didn't really know anyone." Steve took a step closer. "Uh - I -" It seemed weird to tell Tony he'd been fantasizing about him for a month and a half. 

"So," Tony said conversationally. "Best kiss of my life. Wanna see if it works sober too?"

Steve gaped. "We're at the grocery store."

Tony burst out laughing. "Not here, hot stuff. On a date. Or, after a date, however it plays out. Maybe a dark movie theatre or a quiet corner booth. Maybe back at my place. Or your place. Just say the word, and I'm there with bells on. Though, not actual bells, because this one time -"

For someone who had said all of one word to Steve at the party, Tony sure knew how to talk. "Friday," Steve said, holding back laughter at Tony's ramble. "I'm free Friday."

Tony beamed. "Good! Me too." Tony held out his phone. "Give me your number?"

Steve shot himself a text on Tony's phone, not willing to walk away without Tony's number again, even if Tony promised to text him, then handed it back. They grinned stupidly at each for longer than was appropriate for a grocery store.

"I'll call you," Tony finally said.

"Good." Steve gripped the handle of his cart. "Friday?"

"Definitely Friday."

"Okay."

The stunned staring continued. 

Then Tony's eyes darted up and down the aisle. He rocked up on his toes, crushing his grocery basket between their stomachs and pressed a light kiss to Steve's lips. "Happy New Year."


End file.
